Placing Fields Directly into a Document

It's possible to insert a field in your document manually, without using the Field dialog box at all. This can be faster, if you already know exactly what kind of field you need, and especially if the field is not complex.

For instance, if you want to insert a page count within your document text, the field you need is simple:

{ NUMPAGES }

By placing this field in your document directly, you save yourself the trouble of scrolling through a long list of field names in the Field dialog box.

To enter a field directly into your document, press Ctrl+F9. Word places two curly brackets around your insertion point and colors them gray to indicate that you're in a field (see Figure 23.5). These curly brackets are called field characters.

After you've inserted field characters, you can type any field names and any instructions inside the brackets. You can also cut and paste text into a field code from outside. Conversely, you can also cut or copy text from within field brackets to a location outside the field brackets. Keep the following syntax points in mind:

• You must leave one blank space after the left field bracket and before the right field bracket.

• After the first space, enter the field name; you can enter it in uppercase, mixed case, or lowercase.

• Leave one space between the field name and any switch.

• Leave one space between a switch and any parameters associated with that switch.

• If the field refers to a filename or specific text, enclose the filename or text in quotation marks.

What Goes into a Field

Chances are that you will create most of your fields using the check boxes, scroll boxes, and other shortcuts that appear in Word 2003's Field dialog box. If you do, you may rarely see the field codes themselves; Word inserts them for you.

However, you may occasionally need to troubleshoot or slightly modify a field code. For those times, it's valuable to understand more clearly how they work.

You already know that every field has a name and that many fields require additional field instructions. Two of the most common field instructions are arguments and switches; these are covered next. More complex field instructions are covered later in this chapter, in the section "A Closer Look at Field Instructions."

Using Arguments to Give Word Essential Field Information

In the example discussed earlier, you used { USERNAME } without any additional field instructions to insert the name of a user. When Word encounters this field, it inserts the username it finds stored in the User Information tab of the Options dialog box.

However, you can also use a { USERNAME } field to place a new name in the document and then permanently store that name in the User Information tab, where it can be used later for other purposes. If this is what you want to do, you have to tell Word what name to use. The syntax is as follows:

{ USERNAME "Robert Smith"  }

The easiest way to create this field is to choose Insert, Field; select UserName from the Field Names scroll box; and enter Robert Smith in the New Name text box that appears. If you prefer, you can click the Field Codes button and enter the text manually.

In the example given previously, the field instructions in quotation marks after USERNAME are a simple example of an argument. Arguments are text, numbers, or graphics that help a field decide how to act or what information to insert.

Arguments should always be enclosed in quotation marks. If you insert the fields using the check boxes, scroll boxes, and other shortcuts provided in the Field dialog box, Word enters the quotation marks for you.

If you enter the field codes manually?either by clicking Field Codes to display the Advanced Field Properties text box or by pressing Ctrl+F9 in the document to display field brackets?you then need to enter the quotation marks yourself.

{ TITLE "Start \"Loafing\" Around" }

{ INCLUDEPICTURE "c:\\reports\\image12.jpg" }